Au-delà de la catégorie « césarienne sur demande maternelle ». Cultures médicales et expériences de mères en Suisse romande

In this article, I examine the socio-cultural and biomedical logics underlying maternal requests for caesarean sections, and analyse the multiplicity of women’s motivations. I aim to add complexity to the medical category of “maternal request”, which presupposes an abstract subject with the capacity...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Irene Maffi
Format: Article
Language:French
Published: Association Anthropologie Médicale Appliquée au Développement et à la Santé 2025-04-01
Series:Anthropologie & Santé
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/anthropologiesante/14232
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Summary:In this article, I examine the socio-cultural and biomedical logics underlying maternal requests for caesarean sections, and analyse the multiplicity of women’s motivations. I aim to add complexity to the medical category of “maternal request”, which presupposes an abstract subject with the capacity to make autonomous choices regardless of the socio-cultural and technological context. The purpose is to explore how maternal demand for a caesarean section arises within new social and biomedical norms relating to birth, femininity and motherhood. Analysing the accounts of four mothers I met during ethnographic research in French-speaking Switzerland, I examine their personal motivations and how they fit into specific biomedical systems and social and gender norms. I focus on class, level of education and national origin as important factors, both in the relationship with health professionals and in the approach to the female body and childbirth.
ISSN:2111-5028